Saturday, December 29, 2012

Come visit my new friend's Marie Antoinette Room! I had the pleasure knowing Caren when she approached me for some fake macarons. Initially I didn't know how those fake macarons would be used for (they are still in the midst of making by the way) but curiosity got the hold on me. I'm always curious how my customers use these fake macarons :) Caren told me she wanted to decorate her Marie Antoinette inspired room with them, and she shared some precious photos with me.

I was blown away by the room - I know you will too because you can tell a lot of time and effort has been put into the decoration. From the colours, to the wall details, there is just so much to admire and see. Imagine putting on some relaxing music, filling up the room with your favorite scent, resting your feet, sipping tea and eating sweets in this marvelous room. That's what I was thinking when I saw it. :)

I asked Caren if I could possibly share these photos on my blog and I'm so glad she allowed me to, so a very BIG thank you to you, Caren!!

Without much delay, here are a few photos :)

Don't you just love the colour of the wall and all the intricate patterns on the wall? I love it!
Even the fabric print of the chair matches!

The lounge chaise looks incredibly comfortable. Would you enjoy reading a book or napping on it?

Some faux cakes and beautiful decorations:)

More work are planned for this room, so perhaps in the future, I might be able to show you more photos!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Ever since I laid my eyes on Madame La Fee cross stitch patterns, it has been on my wish list :)
I'm thrilled when I finally own it, and was even more delighted when I finally started working on it about 2 months ago.

If you had been following my blog, you'd know that I fell head over heels in love with this one.

When I finally got my hands on the chart, I started digging through my stash for the light pink fabric (as recommended) to stitch on. Just amazingly enough, I have a pink fabric in my collection and the size was just perfect for it. However as I have been keeping the fabric for a long time, it has a few yellow spots here and there, so the first thing I had to do was to wash and remove the yellow spots which I did successfully by washing and using some fabric stain remover. Some folks said baking soda would help too but I don't have that at home, so I just tried using what I have at home.

My progress has been slow but I'm glad this is a easy chart to stitch. They consist of all full cross stitches so it's very enjoyable too. I'm currently working on the cupcake, and once I'm done, I'll move onto the right hand side of the chart!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Am I the only one who has the habit of buying chrismtas present for myself? ;)

How was your Christmas? I hope you had a great one spending quality time with your loved ones.

I worked on Christmas Day ;) But it was not tough, and I had fun chatting with my student who had not been able to come for class for a while. After that, I went to my aunt's place for family gathering and we had a nice Christmas spread for dinner. It was delicious!

Oh and I pampered myself with some christmas presents too which finally arrived in the mail.

Some skincare items which I will be using religiously, plus these are perfect for traveling too since they don't take up too much space.

Tons of face masks!

Face Serum

Eye cream

I plan to spend some nice quiet time for cross stitching and watching some movies. :)

I should take a photo of my cross stitch project soon too, which I started 2 months ago?

Thursday, November 29, 2012

I made some stollen bread earlier in dollhouse miniature 1/12 scale for my christmas scene.

Though I've not tasted this before (I'm not a fan of anything with cinnamon in it), I saw this christmas food a few years back in one of those high end bakery stores here and I was fascinated with this irregular shape bread.

Maybe it taste like a fruit cake? :P

Candied fruits, nuts and spices are just some key ingredients in this traditional german christmas food.

I made these in dollhouse miniature scale, and hand wrapped them individually.

I'm also intending to make some of the sliced ones where you can see the nuts or fruits in it :)

Right now, these individually wrapped stollen breads are available in my shop here or Etsy shop.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

I saw these Martha Stewart Satin Acrylic Paint by chance when I was browsing the local art and craft store just recently. I ran out of some paints and was looking to pick up my usual when I saw these. I was delighted when I saw them as the colours were extremely beautiful! But you must know I wasn't a fan of Martha Stewart other products...such as the air dry clay. You can see my earlier blog post here.

Because of that, though I was mesmerized by the whole range of soft shades which was calling out to me, I held back and decided not to be an impulsive shopper. Standing at the rack for a good half hour and more, with a sales staff right beside me refilling the paint racks with the Folkart paints, I was still deciding on which ones to get. Finally I decided to get only the basic colours to try out - White and Beige since these are colours I use a lot and from there I can review it.

They have Satin, Gloss, Metallic and one more which I don't remember. I was lured by the Satin paint. The other brands don't have a Satin paint, so I was very curious to what it would do.

The prices are also a bit more expensive than Folkart and other brands, so perhaps some people might be concerned with the prices.

I was really curious to how the quality is like, so within a day or two, I experimented it with my cake shelf.

The texture is really creamy and smooth, which is really good. It can be a little thick but I just thin it down with some water and it is fine. :) The texture won me over.

I painted a few coats on my cake shelf and when it's dried, I started to see the noticeable difference of this paint versus the other brands of acrylic paint.

Other acrylic paints are just matte, which means there is no difference in its look except for a coat of colour.

But for the Martha Stewart Satin Acrylic Paint, I saw a sheen of satin glow. This is very apparent when you tilt your item and see it in daylight. It is absolutely gorgeous to me, and I was completely bought over by it.

I wished there was a better way my camera can capture it, but my photo probably did not do the paint justice...

In any case, I think I am sold. All the shades are gorgeous - pastel and soft, PLUS with this satin texture, I really can't ask for more :)

First I have to start using up all the other colours in my drawer - while I slowly convert my collection to this new set of paints...

Monday, November 19, 2012

This is my newest pink macaron necklace! I don't know why it took me that long to come up with a pink theme - knowing it's my favourite colour, but late is better than never!

This brings a smile to my face. I was picky with finding the best pink combination, and this is just one of them. I MIGHT come up with more pink combinations. Oh, if you have anything in mind, do let me know too.

You just don't know how much fun I'm having when I create these trio, really. I mean it. Playing with colours is fun for me :D

Of course you will also learn how to create christmas candle, poinsettia and everything you see in the photo. :)

And for this year, I'm also extending a special discount for my previous students who has taken workshops from me before.

All previous students enjoy a 10% discount off the course fees for My Christmas Treats.(This special discount is only available when course payment is made between now till 31 Dec 2012, and first workshop session takes place anytime from now till 31 Dec 2012)

Monday, November 5, 2012

If you have been following my Facebook Fan Page, you would know that I was running a free giveaway contest over the last week.

Just a little while ago, I announced the result of the winner as well as the answer to what I was making with the miniature cups!

In fact when I ran the contest last week, I was a little worried that there won't be a winner because almost all the answers were related to food, desserts or beverages. I was thinking of giving a hint if there were no answers by the next day...and then later in the day, we got the correct answer! :)

Congratulations Jackie!

Loving these candles currently.

I have soo many new stuff in the pipeline but I am waiting to complete my mini scene (I'm waiting for another supply to come in) before I present the whole idea. Stay tuned!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

I'm excited to show you this batch of handmade christmas ornaments that I made. My customer wanted christmas ornaments to be made with these faux macarons, and I happily whip up a batch!

I'm also enjoying the piping process and it's actually quite fun and relaxing for me to do it. There's another design I want to try out and I'll have to fork out some time to try it, the thing is I don't know if I will pipe that out or try another method, but we'll see how that works out :)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Magnolia Rouge is one of my favourite blogs to look at. Everything there speaks elegance. :)

It's one of my favourite blogs to look at when I want to be inspired by colours and ideas.

And today I feel so honored and privileged when I saw my own dollhouse miniature pink layer cake being featured in one of their colour inspiration board. Being featured on their blog means a lot to me because I had been admiring their style for the longest time.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

If you wondered where I get my color inspiration from, I get them from almost everywhere. I just pay attention to a lot of things in my day to day life.

Just the other day, I saw my mom's shirts hanging on the clothes line and immediately I saw that those colours were complimenting one another and she just happened to have her craze over purples and brown.

2 nights ago, I was watching a film and by chance, I picked Bright Star.

The reason was rather superficial, I'll admit. I was lured in by the protagonist's occupation, who was a stitcher - she stitches and hand sew her clothes.

Another reason why I picked to watch this was because I was lured in by the photograph below.

The colours in this film is just amazing. The story is OK, but I love the clothes, fabrics, colours and the set. Just by looking at it, you can tell a lot of effort was being put to ensure that the audience is in for a beautiful visual treat! I can't even describe it to you, but I have not seen such a beautiful film for a very long time.

At times, there were very dark rich colors, and at times, they used very soft feminine colors. I think I want to re-watch this again.

Friday, October 5, 2012

I've designed these faux macaron jewelry which are now available as pre-orders for christmas jewelry gifts!

I still can't shake off the macaron fever and have continued to come up with more macaron jewelry designs.

And of course, because the holiday season is fast approaching, I wanted to do something cheery and festive.

Although these designs are far from "cheery", as the colours are played down to cool wintry tones, except for the vanilla bean macaron design with holly leaves and berries, I am actually happy that my friends have taken a liking to these colours. I wasn't sure how receptive folks were to that, but to my surprise, the wintry blue snowflake macaron design seem to be a few of my friends' favorite. I know I wanted people to feel a sense of calm and peace when they hold it. :)

My friends are so used to seeing my miniatures that they naturally thought these were dollhouse miniatures until I told them these were life size fake macarons.

Each macaron is about 4cm wide and about 1.5cm thick.

Wintry blue macaron with hand drawn snowflake design

Holly leaves and berries on a vanilla bean macaron

For the entire month of October, I'm accepting these pre-orders for a special discounted price!

I personally know how hard it is to shop for unique, meaningful and something special for christmas, and I think these will definitely delight your family and friends. Just remind them it's not edible!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

When I saw these range of cute lovely designs on the net, I was drooling over them. :)

What lovely patisserie prints!!!

Ok I wished they released these fabric prints on their own, because I dream about making curtains with them. But unfortunately these prints are only found in their patisserie de paris range of products.

Although I would never be able to wear that cute dress / skirt and carry it off well, but it doesn't hurt to look at it. I imagine those working in a cafe or into cosplay would love that.

BUT there are still other products that one can dream about owning, like the pouch bag and tote bags!

For those who are crazy with patisserie related things, you might like it! :)

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

This dollhouse miniature brick wall has taken me a bit way too long to make.

I was over ambitious and started off with a larger surface area, and after making 3 or 4 rows each time, I would get really tired. It can get pretty time consuming to make, and I had to break it up into several sessions. And then real life and other work got into the way and so I kept putting this project aside. But a few days ago, I saw that I only have another 3-4 rows before completion and so I pushed myself to finish it. I am really glad that I finished this wall finally.

I initially wanted this to be part of the feature for a future workshop, but experiencing how tedious it can get, and based on my teaching experiences so far, I have decided to tweak it down. My initial plans will be changed, but I believe it will still be good :) And for this wall, I will keep it for display purposes.

Every time when I go for my jog, I pass by this row of brick walls which I would notice and study its details. I love how the green moss gives it a realistic look and over here, I try to replicate the same. :)

Monday, September 24, 2012

I created this faux macaron jewelry just recently. This is actually a fall/autumn inspired colour :)
It is also the first time for me to create a jewelry using a different colour line, but I am really loving it.
Perhaps it's the brightness of it. My mom actually loves this colour range.

Maybe another reason why I am liking this a lot is also because this is a very earthy colour range and yet makes me smile. :)

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

It's been a while since I worked on something new in 1:12 dollhouse miniature scale. I have been still busy with real life and work, which inhibits me from doing more experiments. Most of my free time are spent working on large wholesale orders (thank you!!) as well as refilling my shop for those items that I sold.

Whatever little time and energy that I have and can squeeze out from my busy schedule, I try to experiment something new.

I made these new 1:12 scale decorative kitchen signs just the other day, and I'm so happy with how they turned out which made me feel really excited to launch them in other words as well. So please keep a lookout in my shop as I will list them when I finish some.

I made them entirely by hand, and I love how they look with the white-washed wood backing.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

These are the newest dollhouse wall art that I did recently. I made some of these sometime back, and the last set that I did were actually winter flowers. I did not finish making the whole lot since there were just too many photos, so whenever I have some time, I will pick some and work on them.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Recently I was alerted about a reseller who stole my photos and content. She used it on her website and etsy shop. I decided to write about this, in order to raise awareness amongst buyers regarding the issue of misleading photos that are sometimes used. I want to focus on the deeper and higher meaning behind this whole issue, as it is one that buyers should be acutely aware of.We have all had experiences buying things off photos that were misleading. Once I purchased some glass jars on Ebay. Photos are important to me, since I don't have the means to view the products in person. However when they arrived, I was sorely disappointed. It was nothing like the photos. The containers did not fit the jar openings nicely and they looked badly made. I asked for a refund because they were nothing like the ones that I saw in the photos. The photos were mis-leading.In today's world, supplying the products is just not enough, people are looking for value added service. How you create meaning in the products you carry is important. How you present them as they are is important.While price is important, so is reliability. Reliability comes in many ways - it includes- Sellers who present the item truthfully as it should be. No mis-representations.- Sellers who spend time to experiment and research products, and takes pride to create photos and write a proper listing description for the product.And while reliability is important, trust is sacred.Can one really trust a seller who steals content (which includes writing) and photos and as a result mis-represents themselves? Even if the seller is selling a raw supply, but took someone's photo to show the products that were created with the raw supply, it is still a case of mis-representation because the seller did not create that.Before making a purchase, here are a few considerations which will help you to determine if you are dealing with a reliable and trustworthy seller:- Did the seller use the product himself or herself?- Did the seller make their own notes about what worked and what did not worked?- Did the seller think of creative ways that you can use the product? - Did the seller show you how to use it, in his or her own way?

These simple questions set a conscientious standard which you can apply. Applying these standards should help to protect you as a buyer.I hope in some small way this blog entry will serve to raise awareness on this issue.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Some of you might think it's a really bold, and perhaps an acquired colour. I cannot even explain how beautiful this green is to me. And I think that even the pictures are not doing enough justice. I just know I cannot take my eyes off it. Very antique, elegant, and it makes me smile.

Green has a special place in my heart. Perhaps it was a colour that I was obsessed with since I was a very little girl. (Yes green was my favourite colour when I was a kid, not PINK!)

I love everything green, even my food. Green cakes, green coloured drinks!! And then I went into elementary school and I think my colour taste changed as I turned 8 or 10 years old.

I bought a new colour when I went shopping last week with my aunts and mom. It was a green. :)
I was really eager to try it, and here this is my first result.

This piece is painted in many layers, to give it this antique look.

I took this side view of it just to show you how straight the corners are.

Friday, August 17, 2012

I'm still busy working on these fake macarons. This batch is coffee flavour ones. I have to keep stressing that it's fake just so that people don't think they are edibles. I did not know this flavour or colour is such a hit. Perhaps people really love drinking coffee and it doesn't harm to have a coffee macaron too?

Before I started getting busy with the macarons, I was also busy working on my second online tutorial!YESS! For those who are searching for online miniature clay food tutorials, I am working on the second one, but I got pulled away by a project so I have to devote my time on that instead. But I just wanted you all to know there is something in the pipeline...so do look out for it.

I'm welcoming my first overseas student this coming weekend, and it's always exciting! She wants to learn the English Tea Time which is one of the most popular workshops.

There were a couple more enquiries about this class by other students - but I ran out of some materials. I will be contacting those once the material is available SOON. The good news is, shipment is already on the way :)

My student popped a question asking how long it will take for her to travel to my place from her hotel. I found this really useful resource http://whereto.sg/ where you can input in your hotel address as well as your destination details. It tells you how long it takes to travel by bus or car/taxi. :)